Picked by Oxford Tearoom Mysteries fans

Here are 8 books that Oxford Tearoom Mysteries fans have personally recommended once you finish the Oxford Tearoom Mysteries series. Book DNA is a community of authors and super-readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Book cover of Pork Pie Pandemonium: Albert Smith's Culinary Capers

Neil Plakcy Author Of In Dog We Trust

From my list on crime-solving dogs.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I met my husband, he had two dogs—Gus the collie and Charlie the Yorkie. When the collie crossed the rainbow bridge, we brought another big dog into the household—a golden retriever. Charlie let Sam know that my husband was HIS human, and Sam could have me if he wanted. That began a beautiful twelve-year love affair. I knew I had to write about the relationship between man and dog, and chose the mystery novel as my framework. I spend hours every day researching my books – walking my current goldens, Brody and Griffin; feeding them; grooming them; playing with them; and observing how they interact with the world.

Neil's book list on crime-solving dogs

Neil Plakcy Why Neil loves this book

It’s laugh-out-loud funny, and despite the fact that he flunked out as a police dog, Rex is a great detective who usually knows more than his human counterparts.

Higgs has also done a great job of combining culinary details throughout the series. In this one, you’ll learn all about pork pies. But even vegetarians will love these books.

Book cover of The Murder Before Christmas

K.E. O'Connor Author Of Cream Caramel and Murder

From my list on involving muffins and murder.

Why am I passionate about this?

My degree in archaeology taught me life is a giant puzzle. People leave behind fragments, giving hints but never definitive answers. My deductive skills when piecing together broken pottery or looking at renderings of hominid skulls to determine how they lived, evolved my desire to write mysteries. One of the many things I love about cozy mysteries is that everything looks peaceful on the outside, but like real life, you barely need to scratch the surface before you discover dark deeds and secrets. And who doesn’t enjoy that?

K.E.'s book list on involving muffins and murder

K.E. O'Connor Why K.E. loves this book

Cupcakes are nothing without the perfect drink, which is why this book is an ideal accompaniment to the cake cozies – and it’s set in the 1980s, so is chocked full of nostalgia for people of a certain age.

The setting may be festive but the mystery will leave you pondering whodunit until the end. And there are lots of lovely easter eggs (or should that be festive treats) hinting at more puzzles in future books.

By Michele Pariza Wacek ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Murder Before Christmas as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

If you've got a problem, Charlie Kingsley probably has a tea that’ll help make it right.

EXCEPT when it comes to love. She does NOT do love potions.

Not even for Courtney, her pregnant new client who showed up three weeks before Christmas seeking a love potion because her husband was cheating on her.

So, Courtney asked about poison, instead.

She said she was joking. That's what happens between wives and husbands. They get angry and talk about killing each other. They don't really mean it.

It seems to make sense ... until Courtney’s husband turns up dead on Christmas…


Book cover of Ganache and Fondant and Murder

K.E. O'Connor Author Of Cream Caramel and Murder

From my list on involving muffins and murder.

Why am I passionate about this?

My degree in archaeology taught me life is a giant puzzle. People leave behind fragments, giving hints but never definitive answers. My deductive skills when piecing together broken pottery or looking at renderings of hominid skulls to determine how they lived, evolved my desire to write mysteries. One of the many things I love about cozy mysteries is that everything looks peaceful on the outside, but like real life, you barely need to scratch the surface before you discover dark deeds and secrets. And who doesn’t enjoy that?

K.E.'s book list on involving muffins and murder

K.E. O'Connor Why K.E. loves this book

If you’re a fan of Best British Bakeoff, this one’s for you! Patti Larsen writes fab, well-rounded, funny characters that’ll have you rooting for them and rolling your eyes.

In this book, your sleuth, Fiona, is helping her mother, Lucy, enter a televised baking show. But when the cupcakes come out funky and the head judge scolds her, Lucy is devastated and abandons her dream of being the next top cupcake queen.

Then the judge is murdered and all eyes turn to Lucy! Fiona is a loyal, supportive, and determined sleuth, letting nothing stand in her way of keeping her mother out of prison.

If you enjoy great world building, full, flawed, funny sleuths, enjoy a slice of mystery muffin with this great book.

By Patti Larsen ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ganache and Fondant and Murder as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Tasty Kind of Afternoon

Not to be indelicate about it, but if Mom made me eat one more bite of cake, I was going to throw up. I’d honestly ingested enough dessert in the last hour to sink a submarine with no end in sight.

Don’t get me wrong. I loved my mother’s baking. But a girl has her limits, and I had finally reached mine, groaning, burping softly around the chocolate, vanilla, red velvet, buttercream and banana that swam on the surface of a variety of other flavors I’d rather not taste again in reverse.

With renovations of…


Book cover of Bed, Breakfast & Bones: A Ravenwood Cove Mystery

K.E. O'Connor Author Of Cream Caramel and Murder

From my list on involving muffins and murder.

Why am I passionate about this?

My degree in archaeology taught me life is a giant puzzle. People leave behind fragments, giving hints but never definitive answers. My deductive skills when piecing together broken pottery or looking at renderings of hominid skulls to determine how they lived, evolved my desire to write mysteries. One of the many things I love about cozy mysteries is that everything looks peaceful on the outside, but like real life, you barely need to scratch the surface before you discover dark deeds and secrets. And who doesn’t enjoy that?

K.E.'s book list on involving muffins and murder

K.E. O'Connor Why K.E. loves this book

This is a delightfully fun twisty mystery that fulfilled my fantasy of inheriting an amazing property in a beautiful small town and being involved in a wonderful community (with a few murderous intentions lurking beneath the surface!)

Ravenwood Cove is a fabulous town and the author does an amazing job of making you feel like you’re there, with vivid descriptions of the setting and lively, realistic characters with fascinating pasts.

A delightful giant of a series that’ll keep you entertained for weeks. And there are bonus recipes if you love to bake along as you discover whodunit!

By Carolyn L Dean ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Bed, Breakfast & Bones as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Amanda Graham inherited a rundown bed and breakfast, a starving cat, and some dead guy who’s buried in her garden!What should’ve been a simple remodeling project and a new business in a small Oregon beach town winds up with her uncle named as the number one murder suspect, a slew of odd neighbors and problematic townspeople, and Amanda wanting to just sit down and eat her weight in chocolate pie. Sure, she could pack her bags and travel back to LA…or should she dig in, heal from her failed romance, and find a whole new set of friends and adventures…


Book cover of No Good Tea Goes Unpunished

Angela McRae Author Of Emeralds and Envy

From my list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a former newspaper reporter turned cozy mystery writer, tea blogger, and cookbook author. If there’s a book with tea in it, count me in. I love the beverage itself, the ritual of teatime, tea parties, collecting tea wares, and growing tea (I grow camellia sinensis at home). Of all the hobbies and passions I’ve had, exploring all things tea is the one that never gets old. And so far, I’ve managed to include at least a bit of tea in every book I’ve written. 


Angela's book list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup

Angela McRae Why Angela loves this book

In her Seaside Café Mysteries, Bree Baker has conjured a thoroughly modern tea shop with Surf, Sand, and Tea, a business located in an old Victorian home on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Everly Swan (fun name!) has lots of varieties of iced tea on offer, and two elderly aunts bring some well-plotted family history into the mix. This series gives a modern-day spin to the tearoom enterprise, and this seven-book series ended far too soon for my taste.

By Bree Baker ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked No Good Tea Goes Unpunished as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the second book of the popular Seaside Café Mysteries, No Good Tea Goes Unpunished, Everly Swan caters a high-profile beach wedding where the groom doesn't make it to the altar before the wedding bells ring.

Hitting All the sweet-tea spots, this series is:

A delightful Tea Shop and Café Culinary Mystery

The ideal cozy beach read

Perfect for fans of Laura Childs and Kate Carlisle

Catering her childhood friend's beachfront wedding was a dream come true for Sun, Sand and Tea Shop and Café owner Everly Swan—and the hundreds of guests in attendance would be great exposure for her…


Book cover of There's a Murder Afoot

Angela McRae Author Of Emeralds and Envy

From my list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a former newspaper reporter turned cozy mystery writer, tea blogger, and cookbook author. If there’s a book with tea in it, count me in. I love the beverage itself, the ritual of teatime, tea parties, collecting tea wares, and growing tea (I grow camellia sinensis at home). Of all the hobbies and passions I’ve had, exploring all things tea is the one that never gets old. And so far, I’ve managed to include at least a bit of tea in every book I’ve written. 


Angela's book list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup

Angela McRae Why Angela loves this book

A Sherlock Holmes–themed bookshop located at 222 Baker Street in West London, Massachusetts, with an adjoining tea shop. That’s really all I need to say, isn’t it? But in this particular book in the series, our heroine, Gemma Doyle, heads across the pond to attend a Sherlock Holmes conference, and there were so many cups of tea being brewed that I couldn’t help grinning at how it seems to be the cure for every British ailment. 

By Vicki Delany ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked There's a Murder Afoot as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Just in time for Sherlock Holmes's 166th birthday, the fifth installment in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery takes Sherlockania to the max with a Holmes convention and historic 221 Baker Street.

Gemma Doyle and her friends travel to London for a Sherlock Holmes convention--but will Gemma's father take the fall for a felonious forger's fatality?

The 6th of January is Sherlock Holmes's birthday, and lucky for Gemma Doyle, January is also the slowest time of the year at both the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium, and Mrs. Hudson's Tea Room. It's a good time for Gemma…


Book cover of Hidden Treasure

Trish Esden Author Of The Art Of The Decoy

From my list on mysteries featuring antique dealers, plus a bonus.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve dealt in antiques my entire life to one degree or another. I'm currently a full time antique dealer, after retiring from owning a florist shop that also sold antiques, books, plants, and giftware. My love for dealing antiques is only matched by my passion for writing, museums, and country living. 

Trish's book list on mysteries featuring antique dealers, plus a bonus

Trish Esden Why Trish loves this book

Hidden Treasure is the thirteenth novel in the long-running Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries series.

This novel is a great addition to the series that features not only an antique dealing main character but shows her business growing and transforming. I specifically enjoyed this novel because the mystery is centered on an older woman who has a zest for life despite her age—and I like how Josie encourages and helps her.

The novel’s fast-paced and twisty, including one particularly surprising and fun detail near the end. I highly recommended this series to lovers of cozy as well as traditional mysteries with an antique dealer as the main character. 

By Jane K. Cleland ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Hidden Treasure as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The discovery of a mysterious antique trunk leads to a disappearance—and murder—in the latest in this beloved cozy series set on the rugged New Hampshire coast, Jane K. Cleland's Hidden Treasure.

When antiques expert Josie Prescott finds a mysterious trunk, no one thinks it could lead to murder. Josie, the owner of Prescott’s Antiques & Auctions, and her new husband, Ty, have finally found their dream home, a Victorian beauty on the beach known in the town of Rocky Point as the “Gingerbread House.” It was recently vacated by Maudie Wilson, an aging widow, whose concerned nieces have moved her…


Book cover of Death by Darjeeling

Angela McRae Author Of Emeralds and Envy

From my list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a former newspaper reporter turned cozy mystery writer, tea blogger, and cookbook author. If there’s a book with tea in it, count me in. I love the beverage itself, the ritual of teatime, tea parties, collecting tea wares, and growing tea (I grow camellia sinensis at home). Of all the hobbies and passions I’ve had, exploring all things tea is the one that never gets old. And so far, I’ve managed to include at least a bit of tea in every book I’ve written. 


Angela's book list on cozy mysteries to read sipping from a vintage teacup

Angela McRae Why Angela loves this book

Laura Childs is the reason I read and write fiction today. When her debut tea shop cozy mystery came out in 2001, I was still working as a journalist and was waiting inside a local bookstore to interview a Pentagon official, who had just released his first military thriller. Killing time, I browsed the paperback books, a section of the store I’d never considered before. When I laid eyes on Death by Darjeeling, birds started singing and fairy dust floated through the air. Who knew I could enjoy fiction? Readers have asked why I have no plans to write a tea-themed cozy series myself, and I’ll tell you why: I don’t think I could top Laura Childs.

By Laura Childs ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Death by Darjeeling as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

FIRST IN THE TEA SHOP MYSTERY SERIES!

When a man is poisoned by tea, Charleston shop owner Theodosia Browning must prove her innocence and track down the real killer...before someone else takes their last sip.

Meet Theodosia Browning, owner of Charleston's beloved Indigo Tea Shop. Patrons love her blend of delicious tea tastings and Southern hospitality. And Theo enjoys the full-bodied flavor of a town steeped in history—and mystery.

It's tea for two hundred or so at the annual historical homes garden party. Theodosia, as event caterer, is busy serving steaming teas and blackberry scones while guests sing her praises.…